Music Sources at and via BU
BU Libraries Search covers all our physical audio collections and most of the contents of online sources, subscription or open access. Refine results to audio/video. Our physical collection includes CDs, tapes, and phonodiscs (primarily LPs).
For additional results and more refined searching, go directly to our streaming audio subscription databases.
- Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window Usually known as just "Naxos," this is an audio streaming package of hundreds of classical music lables with very good indexing and search capabilities. It is a reliable destination for Early Music, lesser-known classics, and Contemporary Music. Folk, Blues, Jazz, Nostalgia, Chinese, and World in more limited quantities can be found here. The audio is streamed on demand, not downloaded.
- Music & Performing Arts (Audio & Video Collections) This link opens in a new window Music & Performing Arts' collections include American Music, Classical, Contemporary World, Jazz, Popular, Smithsonian's Global Sound, Ethnographic Sound Archives, American Film Scripts, Asian American Drama, Black Drama, North American Drama, and Theatre in Context. Search results include links to the full text of the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online (1997-2001), with additional audio examples.
Free Music Sources from Outside BU
- Europeana Collections: MusicMusic resources from European archives, broadcasters, museums, universities, research institutes and private collectors. Includes full recordings and short previews.
- Internet ArchiveA non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. More than 3 million audio items. Collections include the Grateful Dead and live music archives.
- Library of Congress, American Memory ProjectAmerican Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.
- Library of Congress: National JukeboxThe Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. Recordings in the Jukebox were issued on record labels now owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which has granted the Library of Congress a gratis license to stream acoustical recordings. At launch, the Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925. Jukebox content will be increased regularly, with additional Victor recordings and acoustically recorded titles made by other Sony-owned U.S. labels, including Columbia, OKeh, and others.
- Virtual Gramophone: Canadian Historical Sound RecordingsMultimedia website devoted to the early days of Canadian recorded sound, providing an overview of the 78-rpm era in Canada. The database contains information for 78-rpm and cylinder recordings released in Canada from 1900 to 1950, as well as foreign recordings featuring Canadian artists and/or compositions.
Offers a broad selection of streaming and downloadable media, including current popular hit music, in your browser or through the Hoopla app for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire. Borrow up to 10 items per calendar month without needing to put anything on hold. Free with a Boston Public Library eCard or library card, available to all Massachusetts residents and college students.
